


The Five People Who Don't Believe in Ghosts and the One Who Does

by pan_ismyhomeboy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Dreams, Gaila and Uhura are bffs, Gen, Paranormal, Pavel is adorable, Scotty is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 19:33:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pan_ismyhomeboy/pseuds/pan_ismyhomeboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are mysterious sounds coming from the engine rooms late at night, and all the crew members but one are convinced that it's not a ghost. Pavel isn't so sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Five People Who Don't Believe in Ghosts and the One Who Does

**Author's Note:**

> Originally prompted from the original Star Trek XI kinkmeme on LJ back in 2010. Gosh this is old. The only changes are for grammar and clarity.

_1._

Captain James T. Kirk doesn’t believe in ghosts. That’s just... no.

However, when he hears the haunting wail from the ventilation ducts, the otherworldly groaning and moaning the echoes like a hundred lost, hungry souls, crying out for salvation... well. He’s willing to rethink his position.

And by rethink, we mean that he takes the blanket on his bed, wraps himself up like a cocoon, and curls up tightly, in the fetal position, in the middle of the bed, eyes tightly shut until morning.

 

_2._

Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy doesn’t believe in ghosts. That’s just stupid.

But if whatever’s making that racket doesn’t stop scaring his highly-gullible partner into hogging all the sheets to himself, he will _personally_ march down and wring aforementioned whatever’s neck, corporeal or _not_.

 

_3._

First Officer Spock doesn’t believe in ghosts. That’s just illogical.

But he finds that his dreams have taken on an interesting turn. He prides himself on mental control, both in and out of consciousness, so there’s a slight distress when his dreams turn from their normal, nearly nonexistent state to memories. A dry, arid planet, muted browns and reds and grays, a sky so achingly bright above, and the piercing sound of wind, howling through dusty canyon walls.

Though he sees little in his mind’s eye, something in his heart tells him that the canyon, like every other inch of this dream planet, is empty, and devoid of life.

In his dream, he mourns.

 

_4._

Communications Officer Nyota Uhura and her best friend Gaila don’t believe in ghosts. That’s just silly.

Still, after being awaken by the strange wailing coming from the corridors, the two women find each other and decided this is as good a time as any for ghost stories.

“I swear. I _absolutely_ swear.”

“Gaila, I thought you just said you didn’t believe in them.”

“I don’t. Doesn’t mean I didn’t still see one.”

“In the mens’ shower room.”

“In the men’s shower room, I swear I _swear_.” Gaila’s laughing, trying to keep her right hand raised. “Clear as day, transparent as glass, and hot as I don’t know _what_.”

“So let me get this straight.” Uhura leans in, voice lowering. “You would... you know. _Do_ one?”

“If you have to ask that, you really don’t know me, do you?”

“But what would you... _how_ would you...”

“Ectoplasm makes the best lube.”

The two women stare at each other for a few moments, and then burst out laughing.

 

_5._

Helmsman Hikaru Sulu doesn’t believe in ghosts. That’s just superstitious.

When he hears the noise, he gets up to investigate. He sticks his head out the door, looks left, looks right, then heads back into his room to pull open his chest of weapons. They were a bitch to get registered and approved by Starfleet, and he’s heard more than one snide remark behind his back about the proper place of such antiques in a modern military organization (that place being the incinerator). He sorts through katanas, foils, épées, and sabres, finally choosing his favorite and turning around in his small room. Despite the restricted space, and despite feeling naked from not having his fencing uniform on, he drops into position and brandishes the weapon.

“En guard,” he whispers to the sonorous sound, and lunges at the air.

 

_1._

Navigator Pavel Chekov absolutely believes in ghosts. He knows that’s childish, and even though he knows that as the youngest member on board the _Enterprise_ he can’t afford to be seen in such a light, he can’t help himself. If there aren’t any ghosts there couldn’t be an afterlife, and if there isn’t an afterlife he just wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

“There is life above death, above the stars,” his father told him when he was still small enough to be propped up on one knee. “You respect the ones who have come before and the ones who still linger. Do you understand me, Pascha?”

“Da, Father,” he remembers replying, and to this day, he remembers those words. As far as he’s concerned, there are things that go above science and religion. So when Pavel opens his eyes and hears the quavering slide of notes echo through the ship, he pushes aside his initial fear and trepidation to pull on his slippers and explore the source of that noise. Being respectful doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be curious, right?

He follows his ears and winds up in the engine room, which looks that much creepier at night with only emergency lighting for illumination. The low hum of the engines is drowned out by the haunting wail, which sounds brasher and more distorted with every step he takes. “Uh... hello? Can you hear me?”

Pavel takes a few more steps and swallows, thinking of how new the ship is, and how sudden the death must have been. What if the person hadn’t even been reported missing yet? No wonder he or she is a restless spirit. “Hello?” he tries again, louder. “It’s me, Pavel Chekov. I mean you no harm or disrespect...”

The wailing abruptly stops, and something in the shadows moves. Pavel closes his eyes and swallows, willing his feet not to take him running back out into the lit hallway. “Can... can you tell me how you got here?”

There’s a long pause, after which a very incredulous, very Scottish voice comes out of the darkness: “Well, I suppose I just took the main hallway from the mess hall after dinner, although if you’re asking in a _metaphysical_ sense, that’s one of life’s great mysteries, isn’t it?”

“ _Scotty_? Is that - oh no! Oh no, do not tell me you have died and become a restless spirit doomed to haunt the engine room for the rest of eternity!”

“...I will, I will _definitely_  make a note not to do that, then. Are you feeling all right, Pav?”

Pavel takes a step forward. “Then you are _not_ dead?”

“Last time I checked I was still in the land of the living - _oof_.”

That oof is followed by what sounds vaguely like a _wooooo_ ga, as Pavel rushes forward to hug his friend, only to also end up hugging the bagpipes smooshed between the two of them. “I thought there was a ghost here!”

“Oh, well, if you think my playing’s bad enough to _kill_ people, I’ll just do it somewhere else! Like maybe the bridge, or the showers.”

Pavel looks up at him with big, sad eyes that catch the reflection of the emergency lighting. “I am just glad you are not dead, Scotty.”

The older man sighs, mild not-really-but-pretending-to-be anger running out of him. “Let me put this thing down and I’ll give you a proper hug, all right?”

Pavel pulls away long enough for Scotty to lovingly set his bagpipes back in their case, then immediately latches onto him again. “You can hear it through the entire _ship_ , Scotty. You must be more careful where you practice.”

“I told you already, it’s not my fault-”

Pavel leans in and kisses him. “I am glad you are not a ghost.”

Scotty, incredibly glad for the darkness of the room, is rendered speechless for a few moments before managing to get out, “You know, right about now I’m pretty glad I’m not a ghost, too.”


End file.
